Human remains found in search for missing Amish teen, prosecutors say
Arrest made in search for missing Amish girl
Replay Video UP NEXT Investigators have found human remains in a rural Pennsylvania area during the search for an Amish teenager who has been missing for 10 months, authorities said. Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, was reported missing on June 21 when she did not return from a youth group she was supposed to attend. Investigators believe she was abducted while walking home from church, police said. On Wednesday, the Lancaster County District Attorney s Office announced that members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania State Police and the East Lampeter Township Police Department in Lancaster County recovered human remains in a rural area of eastern Lancaster County.
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Investigators searching rural Lancaster County have found human remains in the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos, authorities announced Wednesday.
Stoltzfoos was reported missing on June 21, 2020, and 34-year-old Justo Smoker was charged with her kidnapping and death last year.
The Lancaster District Attorney’s Office said the coroner’s officer has been called to the scene, which they say is in a rural area in the eastern part of the county. The FBI, East Lampeter Township police and state police were all a part of the search.
Human remains found during search for Linda Stoltzfoos, Amish teen missing since June [update] lancasteronline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lancasteronline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Missing Amish teen’s body was reburied, found near suspect’s workplace: prosecutors
Updated 5:48 PM;
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Nearly a year after an Amish teenager vanished, Lancaster County prosecutors on Thursday announced they found her body wrapped in a tarp and buried in a grave behind the former worksite of the man charged in her death.
Prosecutors filed homicide charges against Justo Smoker, 34, last year, even without the body of Linda Stoltzfoos, 18. The discovery and new evidence found by East Lampeter Township and Pennsylvania State Police is expected to provide a huge boost for prosecutors in the criminal case.
District Attorney Heather Adams said during a news conference Thursday that the body had not yet been forensically identified as Stoltzfoos, but based on initial observations and clothing found with the body: “We strongly believe and are confident in saying the remains are of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos.”
Editor s note: District Attorney Heather Adams confirmed that the remains found were that of Linda Stoltzfoos. Read more.
The Lancaster County District Attorney s office held a news conference Thursday to discuss the discovery of remains found during the search for Linda Stoltzfoos.
The news conference is started at 11 a.m.
Watch the livestream below.
The remains were discovered by a team consisting of the FBI, East Lampeter Township police and Pennsylvania State Police, the district attorney s office said in a news release.
Mervin Fisher, who is Stoltzfoos uncle, told LNP|LancasterOnline that the family has been told there are strong indications the remains recovered are Linda s, but investigators have yet to make an official identification.